Blizzard designer back-tracks on sexualised female characters

Ok... that is good and well but what about the muscleified male character design? That is very sexist and should also be addressed as well. (Sarcasm intended for those that might not get it.)
 
dampi256 said:
Ok... that is good and well but what about the muscleified male character design? That is very sexist and should also be addressed as well. (Sarcasm intended for those that might not get it.)
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Why the sarcasm? It's a legitimate point. I find these issues both fascinating and incredible complex to try and solve.
 
Pooky said:
Why the sarcasm? It's a legitimate point. I find these issues both fascinating and incredible complex to try and solve.
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I think it's simple: people should stop making problems where none exist.

I really don't want to live in some ridiculous hyper-politically-correct world where anything and everything is capable of offending someone.

People need to grow thicker skin. Actually, I think people just need to grow up.
 
Lycanthrope said:
I think it's simple: people should stop making problems where none exist.

I really don't want to live in some ridiculous hyper-politically-correct world where anything and everything is capable of offending someone.

People need to grow thicker skin. Actually, I think people just need to grow up.
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In this particular case I think perhaps people overreacted, but it's clear that women are not represented fairly for the large part in video games. It's true also that men aren't either, and yes by large it's a product of the society we live in.
 
Pooky said:
In this particular case I think perhaps people overreacted, but it's clear that women are not represented fairly for the large part in video games. It's true also that men aren't either, and yes by large it's a product of the society we live in.
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Sure, I get that. But you don't achieve equality by forcing creators/authors/artists/developers to depict fictitious media as reality and by forcing them to meet feminist demands, racial quotas or whatever.

I have a great amount of respect for women who work in heavily male-dominated industries. However, I don't appreciate it when people throw their toys out of the cot because they find something "offensive."

It's a work of fiction, it's not something that's meant to be looked at for role-models. You don't bitch about George RR Martin's work having too much murder in it, do you? Why bitch about women being too sexualised in a game--a game you have chosen to play.

I'll never understand why fans of certain media (especially in the gaming world) fall in love with it and then spend their lives bitching to the developers to change the damn media into something completely different.

If you want media that portrays gay people, women as ordinary or meets some racial/gender quota of some sort then play those games.

I, for one, am simply exhausted from all the politically correct bullshit in this world. People really need to get over themselves and lose their ridiculously overinflated sense of entitlement.
 
Lycanthrope said:
I think it's simple: people should stop making problems where none exist.

I really don't want to live in some ridiculous hyper-politically-correct world where anything and everything is capable of offending someone.

People need to grow thicker skin. Actually, I think people just need to grow up.
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Lycanthrope for president, tbh.
 
Hraffnir said:
Lycanthrope for president, tbh.
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I'd prefer to be supreme overlord of all!

OaBrOJx.jpg
 
Ike_009 said:
But they don't make those games
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Oh? Games such as Mass Effect and Dragon Age (to a lesser degree also Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Neverwinter Nights games) allow players to pick their race, skin-colour, gender and determine their sexuality throughout the course of the game.

Others, such as Prototype 2, Urban Chaos, Jade Empire, Grand Theft Auto, Chronicles of Riddick, Beyond Good & Evil, etc have all had non-white protagonists and some have been female and not hyper-sexualised.

So... yeah, those games definitely do exist.
 
Lycanthrope said:
Oh? Games such as Mass Effect and Dragon Age (to a lesser degree also Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Neverwinter Nights games) allow players to pick their race, skin-colour, gender and determine their sexuality throughout the course of the game.

Others, such as Prototype 2, Urban Chaos, Jade Empire, Grand Theft Auto, Chronicles of Riddick, Beyond Good & Evil, etc have all had non-white protagonists and some have been female and not hyper-sexualised.

So... yeah, those games definitely do exist.
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But it's still a very small portion of the entire market
 
Ike_009 said:
But it's still a very small portion of the entire market
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Yep, it is and I'm certainly not arguing that.

I like attention being drawn to it, I like that people are showing that there's a market for "minority-character" games. I think it's a good thing that people make aware their feelings and emphasise that they want to be represented in media and to see characters they can relate with.

What I am against is people throwing their toys out of the cot and taking offence at anything and everything that doesn't subscribe to their narrow view of the world and demanding that developers/artists/authors/whatever all change/alter their work to accommodate them.

I like being able to play characters that can have same-sex relationships because I can relate to it and I find it immersive. However, I don't want Geralt of Rivia or Jim Raynor to be gay. Prior to this article, I would have thought nobody would imagine Kerrigan dressed in jeans and a T-shirt because GO FEMINISM. I just don't understand why people feel like playing games, reading books or watching movies and then bitching about a fictitious (and often grossly exaggerated) character not being "realistic." I mean really, wtf.

I can completely appreciate that in many instances sexualisation of women in gaming is utterly ridiculous and blatantly aimed at horny teenagers:

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eva.jpg

The Command & Conquer games are my favourite example of this... The women all have their cleavage wide open. Why? In what professional instance would a news anchor or a commander have their breasts all but completely exposed? It's blatant (and nonsensical) sexualisation. But hey, if that's how they want their games then fine, go for it. But it's stupid (and this is the only argument I have against it).

Yes, show that there is a market for minorities being represented (and accurately represented at that) in media but for the love of sanity, why demand it? Where does this overblown sense of entitlement come from that you MUST be represented in all media? Or that characters that don't look the way YOU want them to is somehow offensive?
 
Pooky said:
Why the sarcasm? It's a legitimate point. I find these issues both fascinating and incredible complex to try and solve.
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Ja, I know, you just find some hyper sensitive people that will jump onto any comment whatever it is. This is unfortunately a very contentious subject and many people have many differing views on it. I feel that people must just play the game and forget about sexism and PC and just play it for the story and game play. :)
 
But the consumer market has changed and those who represented a minority stakeholder group are not a minority anymore. Games aren't just bought by white male youth but by woman, people of other colour and various faiths and views. Therefore to say the industry must get over change isn't exactly fair in my view since those who previously represented a unicorn minority aren't so rare anymore and the would also appreciate games that cater to them instead of having to "grow a thicker skin".

While I'm not saying that we should change existing franchises, but we should be pushing for new franchises especially in the new gen that pushes the boundaries and creating new heroes and legends that are inclusive.
 
people just need to build a bridge and get over it.

yes it is all over the place but really people, this just flavour of the weak 101. queue the next Bioware game that includes homosexual characters and then another furore about that.

grow up move on and leave it alone. less time spent elevating crap like this will force people to just forget about it and move on with life.

some of us already have
 
Ike_009 said:
But the consumer market has changed and those who represented a minority stakeholder group are not a minority anymore. Games aren't just bought by white male youth but by woman, people of other colour and various faiths and views. Therefore to say the industry must get over change isn't exactly fair in my view since those who previously represented a unicorn minority aren't so rare anymore and the would also appreciate games that cater to them instead of having to "grow a thicker skin".

While I'm not saying that we should change existing franchises, but we should be pushing for new franchises especially in the new gen that pushes the boundaries and creating new heroes and legends that are inclusive.
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As I said, there is definitely a market--it's up to developers/publishers to exploit it if they choose to do so.

What I'm moaning about is people who feel that they are somehow entitled to gay/black/female/'normal-female'/whatever characters in every form of media just because people feel 'offended' or 'upset' or some other random emotion that they need to share with the world, when they don't get their way.

Yes, they need to grow a thicker skin and realise that the world doesn't exist to hand them everything they want on a silver platter and that they certainly won't always get their way. And, above all, that they have absolutely no right to demand that anyone conform to their individual perspective of reality.

To quote ol' Gandhi: "Be the change you wish to see." -- Nothing stops anyone from developing, supporting, marketing or investing in media that makes them happy. If you don't like a form of media, don't buy it, read it, play it, watch it or otherwise force yourself through the misery of the experience. But for the love of sanity, stop trying to control what media other people may or may not buy/read/play/watch/experience/develop.

People, today, have an overinflated sense of entitlement and, somehow, people don't seem to understand the problem with that.
 
This is my favourite part:

RPS: I have to add, though, that comics might not be the best point of reference for this sort of thing. I mean, it’s a medium that’s notorious – often in a not-good way – for sexing up female characters and putting them in some fairly gross situations.
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Okay - this guy is simply stirring the pot here. Yes genius - "notorious" usually means something is popular due to a negative connotation. But still, our intrepid journalist/interviewer gets to grips with what a notorious subject is. Something that is clearly popular in a "not-good way". Was this guy an alumni from the Derek Zoolander School for Kids Who Can't Read Good and Want To Do Other Stuff Good Too? Seems so.

I'm beginning to think our society has reached climactic poles. One side is the Godless "I hate you for having a religion and any sense of moral values" crowd, and the other is an increasing number of "We need to go back to the stone-age because Bikinis are the devil! - Also, I like cows". Since when is a fictional character, created from the imagination of an artist open to ridicule from closed-minded Amish leaders because the character dared to show cleavage, or even worse, wear high heels? And then to somehow make these artists feel so bad about their own imaginations that they have to change everything to suite these people who have difficulty in imagining a square?

Sigh - society blows. Our end cannot come soon enough.
 
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